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Tag: SDGs

  • Awaz CDS engages significantly in achieving SDGs

    Awaz CDS engages significantly in achieving SDGs

    KARACHI: Awaz CDS has always played effective role to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerating role of civil society in process.

    Post presentation of voluntary National Review Report (VNR) at High Level Political Forum 2022 by United Nations, Awaz CDS came together with Pakistan Development Alliance to strengthen development processes at national level.

    A conference was held in this regard on Engaging Civil Society in Decade of Action to Accelerate SDGs Implementation -Lessons from HLPF2022 and Way Forward. The event is jointly organized by National Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs Planning Commission of Pakistan, Awaz CDS-Pakistan, and Pakistan Development Alliance.

    READ MORE: FBR chairman issues directives to safeguard revenue, achieve targets

    Awaz CDS-Pakistan and Pakistan Development Alliance led the civil society engagement processes at the national level and produced spotlight report as well as voluntary local review report in 2022 which were also launched during the conference.

    Ali Kemal, Chief SDGs Planning Commission of Pakistan, said that VNR Report compilation is a massive project and civil society played a very important role in data collection and its successful completion.

    VNRs provide the opportunity for countries to share their individual experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating SDG implementation. He stressed on the importance of effective roles civil society plays in achieving SDGs and benefiting from the learnings of such review reports.

    Romina Khurshid Alam, Convener Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs welcomed the audience and said that since the adoption of SDGs as national development goals by Parliament of Pakistan in March 2016, the government has achieved many instructional and strategic millstones to implement SDGs. Pakistan has successfully presented two voluntary national review (VNR) reports at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) at UNHQ in July 2109 and 2022.

    Mohammad Zia-ur-Rehman, Chief Executive Awaz CDS-Pakistan & National Chair Pakistan Development Alliance said that civil society has done a lot of work in the implementation of SDGs and has aided in the improvement of overall situation in Pakistan. He stressed the need for greater and more accurate data collection.

    He further highlighted the need of inclusion and participation of civil society representatives at the policy level as well as VNR report making process for depiction of real on ground situation. Founder of SDGs Academy Ammar Jaffery stressed to engage youth in the process.

    Munazza Gillani Country Director Sightsavers emphasized on the meaningful engagement of persons with disabilities to ensure no one is left behind to benefit from SDGs.

    Representatives of VSO Hashim Bilal shared the constructive role of volunteers towards the achievement of SDGs. Mukhtar Ahmed Ali Executive Director CPDI called for the political will of the duty bearers and sensitisation of right holders in the processes.

    Javed Malick Country Director Malala Fund highlighted the need of  quality education and gender equality in Pakistan as main pillars to achieve SDGs. Country Director Hashoo Foundation Ayesha Khan called for more spaces for civil society so as they can facilitate governments better to fulfil international commitments including SDGs.

    Nadeem Ahmed Social Policy Advisor Federal SDGs Unit Planning Commission of Pakistan appreciated the role of civil society in holding government accountable and shared that government has taken many policy and structural steps to achieve SDGs in Pakistan. He also shared that a subcommittee of National Economic Council -NEC, the apex decision making body in the country has been established to monitor the progress on the implementation of SDGs.

  • Civil societies welcome Pakistan for attending UN HLPF

    Civil societies welcome Pakistan for attending UN HLPF

    ISLAMABAD: The civil society of Pakistan appreciated the government’s presentation of voluntary national review (VNR) at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York.

    The civil society organizations (CSOs) on Friday pointed out addressing the reported regressions and stagnation on critical goals.

    It said that several concerns still exist on critical sustainable development goals (SDG) priorities in the absence of policy coherence, efficient implementation and review mechanisms.

    READ MORE: Need stressed on integrated approach for SDGs

    These concerns were expressed in a joint statement of representatives from a number of CSOs including Pakistan Development Alliance, Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights, AwazCDS-Pakistan, Sightsavers Pakistan, Malala Fund UK, Save The Children, Umang Champions, The Brook International, UGOOD, PCE, PODA, HomeNet Pakistan, Roots for Equality, Karachi Research Institute and LifeSavers.

    Pakistan is attending the UN HLPF (July 5-15) in New York under the auspices of ECOSOC under the theme “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

    The HLPF also reviewed in-depth SDGs on quality education, gender equality, life below water, life on land, and partnerships for the goals.

    READ MORE: Fiscal reforms to help Pakistan generate funding to meet SDGs targets: IMF official

    During the session, representatives of 44 countries carried out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    The CSOs, while pointing out over 22 million children are out of school, called for holistic planning, equitable financing, and stronger political will to enhance the educational outcomes prioritizing the millions left behind.

    At least 4-6 per cent of GDP or 20-25 per cent of public expenditure must be ensured to protect peoples’ fundamental right to education, as per Article 25A, they suggested.

    READ MORE: SBP launches report on SDGs from banking perspective

    They were of the view that the gender equality requires multi-sectoral gender-sensitive planning based on comprehensive vulnerability assessment for achieving gender-responsive social protection, health and education outcomes, protection from violence and disasters, and protection of right to inheritance, employability and political participation.

    For the protection of civic spaces and democratic accountability, they emphasized for CSOs’ meaningful inclusion across agenda-setting and planning processes to avoid tokenistic representation.

    The resolved that the civil society needs a world that is considerate of our collective concerns upholding the ideals we all believe in.

  • Need stressed on integrated approach for SDGs

    Need stressed on integrated approach for SDGs

    ISLAMABAD: Highlighting the important role of Voluntary National Review process towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the participants stressed the importance of an integrated & participatory approach towards making of Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report.

    The process adopted by Planning Commission of Pakistan was inclusive and broad-based, however the official VNR report does not reflect the progress on critical SDGs that related to basic social services including education, human rights, women & gender rights, peace, democracy and accountability mechanisms.

    These thoughts were expressed in Pre – HLPF CSOs Consultation session on Voluntary National Review (VNR) process and report, organized by AwazCDS-Pakistan and Malala Fund in Islamabad.

    Presented every year at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), VNRs provide the opportunity for countries to share their individual experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating SDG implementation. The review process and report also discusses the governing framework and policies supporting the development process.

    Chief Executive Awaz CDS Pakistan, Zia ur Rehman appreciated government for setting up institutional structures like Parliamentary Task Forces and SDGs Units at national, provincial and regional levels to facilitate and oversight the implementation processes towards the achievement of SDGs.

    He expressed concern that the official VNR report apparently focuses on the SDGs other than the five priority SDGs for this year’s HLPF review, including Goals 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality) 14 (Life Below Water), 15(Life on Land), and 17 (Partnership for the Goals). He expressed his dismay for not reflecting progress on quality education and gender equality as standalone segments.

    According to him the report also failed to capture and highlight the stakeholders input on VNR process and progress on SDGs collected through stakeholders’ consultations held across Pakistan.

    Manager Programs & Campaigns AwazCDS, Maryam Amjad Khan presented the combined statement of national CSOs on SDGs for HLPF 2022. The statement highlighted the importance of collecting information through Peoples Scorecard and collecting input from the civil society organizations on the subject. According the results of People Scorecard 2022 the average score of progress on SDGs is 27 as compared to the average score of 22 in 2021.

    Pakistan Development Alliance releases the People Scorecard on SDGs every year to measure the progress on SDGs. Global score for Pakistan progress on SDGs is 59.34. The global score is determined through government sponsored secondary data whereas People Scorecard (PSC) is based on the evidence based perception of informed civil society in Pakistan.

    All sessions were interactive to ensure everyone’s participation. Around 35 members from civil society organizations (CSOs) and INGOs including Sightsavers, VSO, Save the Children, Sir Sayyad Deaf Association, Aurat Foundation, Hashoo Foundation, SAPRC, PCHR, SEDA, Society for Sustainable Development and others participated in the consultation, mostly from organizations led by women, youth, transgender, people living with disabilities and minority groups.

  • Fiscal reforms to help Pakistan generate funding to meet SDGs targets: IMF official

    Fiscal reforms to help Pakistan generate funding to meet SDGs targets: IMF official

    KARACHI: The ongoing fiscal reform in Pakistan will help the country to generate funding to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets under the UN 2030 agenda, said Athanasios Arvanitis, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    Referring to the IMF program with Pakistan, Arvanitis remarked that it is important for the government to focus on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

    He noted that ongoing fiscal reforms will not only put Pakistan’s public debt path on a sustainable footing but also build the foundation for providing crucial funding to meet these targets.

    He was addressing a seminar on ‘Managing Crises in Emerging Markets’ hosted by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) a day earlier, a press statement issued on Saturday.

    Athanasios Arvanitis highlighted some of the main similarities of crises across emerging markets, notably the role typically played by elevated levels of debt, high public and external deficits, inflexible exchange rates, lack of competitiveness, low saving and investment, and maturity and currency mismatches.

    Despite these similarities, he emphasized that there was no one-size-fits-all model for managing crises. Instead, the IMF focuses on different dimensions while assisting a country in developing a homegrown stabilization program.

    The approach emphasizes the need to diagnose the roots of a country’s crisis, trends and developments in the balance sheets of various economic agents and their interconnectedness, and country-specific dynamics that affect the political economy of reforms. In terms of designing stabilization programs, Arvanitis stressed the importance of country ownership and measures to provide support for vulnerable segments of the population.

    He also drew parallels for Pakistan from the experiences of managing crises in other emerging countries.

    Referring to the IMF program with Pakistan, Arvanitis remarked that it is important for the government to focus on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the UN’s 2030 Agenda. He noted that ongoing fiscal reforms will not only put Pakistan’s public debt path on a sustainable footing but also build the foundation for providing crucial funding to meet these targets.

    In his welcoming remarks, the Governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir, stated that the objective of holding the seminar was two-fold. First, to demonstrate that, in addition to its mandate of formulating monetary, exchange rate and financial stability policies, SBP endeavors to facilitate constructive debate on economic issues and is open to diverse points of view. Second, to highlight that Pakistan is not unique and there are many other emerging economies that have also faced economic crises and undergone difficult adjustments.